Thursday's News & Ideas - 8/31/2023

Ex-Catholic Cardinal McCarrick, age 93, found unfit to stand trial on teen sex abuse charges
Associated Press: The once-powerful Roman Catholic Cardinal Theodore McCarrick will not stand trial on charges he sexually assaulted a teenage boy decades ago, as a Massachusetts judge dismissed the case against the 93-year-old on Wednesday because both prosecutors and defense attorneys agree he is experiencing dementia.

Have China’s Christians peaked? Pew researches the data debate*
Christianity Today: New report examines the challenges of measuring religion among Chinese Protestants, Catholics, Buddhists, Muslims and other beliefs.
Pew Research Center: Measuring religion in China

BYU officially restores honor code ban on ‘same-sex romantic behavior’
Religion News Service: The change, which adds language prohibiting “same-sex romantic behavior” to the honor code, was already an unwritten rule on campus.

Pope says a strong U.S. faction offers a backward, narrow view of the church*
The New York Times: In unusually sharp remarks published this week, Pope Francis said some conservative American Catholics wrongly ignore much of the church’s mission and reject the possibility of change.

Most Church of England priests back gay marriage, survey finds
The Guardian: The last time Anglican priests in England were asked, in 2014, shortly after the legalization of same-sex civil marriage, 51% said same-sex marriage was “wrong,” compared with 39% who approved.

The Spark

Where did our public toilets go?
The Nation on why the state of a country’s civilization can be judged by its public facilities.*

*access is limited for nonsubscribers